July 1, 2003, Vol.2, No.13.

Of Rocks and Bones

PART 2

via Preceptor magazine, September, 1988

    The question I hear most often concerning the fossil record relates to the existence of dinosaurs. What then are we to understand of the fossil record? Did the dinosaurs really exist? Were they really as large as men say? What happened to them? The answer is, of course they really did exist and the fossils on display in many museums confirm their size. The error is to assume that they could only have lived many millions of years before modern man, and that such men as existed at that time were the prey of these beasts. The creation model calls for a thick canopy of water vapor over all the world before the flood. The land masses are assumed to have been larger, and the oceans to have been much smaller and relatively shallow compared to the world we know today. The temperature would have been moderate over the globe with frost and freezes unknown. Under these conditions much of the vegetation would be tropical in nature, with large amounts of forage for all animals. The Bible speaks of Nephilim being in the world in that time (Genesis 6:4). Although the exact meaning of the word is unclear, there is no doubt that the Jews used the term to refer to men of large stature, or giants. It would be reasonable to assume that if a nearly perfect set of chromosomes and ideal growing conditions could lead to giants among men, the same would be true of animals that lived so close to the time of creation. That the dinosaur lived, we know, but at that time it could not be a danger to man, for it was under his dominion by the will of the Creator. Even the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex was subject to man and did his bidding.

    Where did the dinosaurs go? They went the way of all flesh when God destroyed the world that then was by the Flood. Did Noah take any along in the ark? Most likely yes, but probably not full grown adults. The world after the flood was a place of spring, summer, fall and winter. Hot and cold were experienced by man and beast for the first time. The dinosaur did not have the forage or the climate to grow to his former size. Those of the reptile kinds that did survive were able to adapt to the world of today and live. Those that did not fell by the wayside. (Yes, adaptation of species did occur from the root kinds of animals in the ark, but not as evolution for this would in reality require interbreeding among kinds to produce a new and different kind of creature.) It is important to keep in mind that the world we live in now was shaped by the Creator during the flood to be suitable for man after his fall into sin. The deposits of oil, coal and minerals which we use were formed by the force of the Flood of Noah to preserve and protect man in his struggle to live in a world of harsh climate and violence. It is the thesis of the Creation Model that we can never determine from observation and study of nature what the world before the flood was like, because that world was completely blotted out. Oil and gas deposits created by the flood have been found as deep as six miles below the surface of the earth. They are mute testimony to the completeness of destruction of the surface of that old world.

    A final point to consider is the supposed law of faunal succession. If this “law” did exist, the life in this world and in the fossil record would show not only what we find, but would also show many more animals who were changing from one kind to another. Displays in museums may have skeletons grouped from small to large (such as the display of supposed horse skeletons in a Chicago Museum), but there are no intermediate forms to show how an animal with toes changed to an animal with a solid hoof. If this had truly happened, we would not only have these skeletons, but hundreds between each one displayed showing beyond a doubt that the “evolution” claimed really did occur. There are no such intermediate forms and those who presented this display knew it at the time it was created. This lack of intermediate forms has troubled evolutionists from the time of Darwin. In this century, some paleontologists have proposed “bursts of evolution” that occurred so quickly there was no time for the intermediate fossils to form. They believe in something from their imagination with no evidence whatsoever, and accuse those who wish to believe the testimony of God to be following “fairy tales.”

    The evidence of fossils and deposits in the surface of the earth is there for all to see. They do not prove or disprove any theory of their existence, or how they came into being, for they simply exist. It is the interpretation of these facts, the attempt to build some philosophical framework to arrange the facts, and produce a logical explanation of how the facts came to be that is the point of argument between the evolutionist and the creationist. The system of Evolution of the Species is one such philosophical framework; the Creation Model is another. Science is involved in all such frameworks when we use known processes (Laws of Nature subject to experimental verification) to describe a logical sequence of events; however, the use of techniques and tools of science does not make the philosophical framework “scientific.” Unless each and every part of the logical framework can be subject to experimental analysis, it must remain a theory or philosophy.

    The twin fields of Historical Geology and Paleontology can never prove by use of the scientific method the assertion of millions of years for the age of the earth and life. Extremely detailed chronologies of how life might have evolved, and how the strata were built up may be constructed; many eminent scholars may spend their lifetimes adding to this structure, but unless hard, repeatable, experimental evidence can be presented to verify the conclusions reached, the work must remain a philosophical structure, sustained only by the faith of those who believe in it. All of the court battles won or lost or the number of men who believe in the framework cannot change faith to reality.

    Those who advocate the Creation Model recognize that it is simply that, a philosophical framework constructed in an attempt to reconcile the facts in nature with the clear teaching of the Bible. Known processes are used in harmony with what we know. No appeal is made to the miraculous unless the Bible teaches it to be so. The first and second law of thermodynamics are respected. The nature and action of the Flood of Noah and the subsequent movement of the earth as the waters were gathered into the seas is adequate to explain the arrangement of Earth’s strata and the fossils trapped in them.

    In closing, I want to note that I am neither a Geologist nor a Paleontologist. I do have a scientific education, and have made a personal study of both fields, but I am not qualified to address detailed studies in either field which seek to embroider the theory of evolution with little or no new evidence which is subject to verification. For me to attempt to do so would be as presump-tuous as one from these fields who attempts to dismiss the existence of a Creator with little or no knowledge of the Bible or the Creation Model.